A variety of incentives are in place for businesses considering a move to the Fort Worth area:

• Fort Worth’s Foreign Trade Zone locations allow companies to import goods without paying custom duties until those goods enter the U.S. market.

• Texas gives cities and counties the power to designate areas as State Enterprise Zones, and to nominate facilities in these zones as Enterprise Zone Projects. The City of Fort Worth has three Enterprise Zones that contains many excellent business locations. Texas will refund up to $1.25 million in state sales and use taxes, will reduce franchise taxes and allow discounted electricity rates for companies designated as Enterprise Zone Projects.

• The State of Texas allows local property taxing jurisdictions to partially or fully abate, for a maximum of ten years, a company’s real and personal property taxes. Property tax abatement is limited by state law to new investment; property already on the tax roll is ineligible for abatement. The City of Fort Worth adheres to a “case-by-case” application, review and negotiation process when presented with requests of abatement.

• The State of Texas allows local property taxing jurisdictions to exempt in-transit inventory from personal property taxes. This is commonly referred to as the “freeport” exemption. In-transit inventory is inventory which leaves Texas within 175 days. Most locations in Fort Worth allow this exemption at all three taxing levels. This is known as a “triple freeport” exemption.

• Job training funds are available through Texas’ Skills Development Fund. These programs are flexible; funds can be applied to classroom training, on-site training, remote training or other arrangements that meet a company’s needs.

• Franchise tax reductions, sales tax refunds and utility rate discounts are available by state law for companies which locate in State Enterprise Zones and are designated Enterprise Projects by hiring a certain percentage of their workforce from the zone.

• Other incentives and support considered for companies moving to or expanding in Fort Worth include expedited permitting, employee recruitment packages and infrastructure.